Here's my beautiful bike! We leave in a month on our 10,000 mile ride to rio! check it out at ridetorio.com

Specs:

Surly Nice front and Rear Racks

Ortlieb Classic Front and Rear Panniers

Ortlieb Plus Handlebar Bag

Ortlieb Map Case

3 Water Bottle Cages

Avenir Excursion Rack-Top Bag

iOttie One-Touch Bike Mount Holder

Garmin GPS Mount

MKS Sylvan Touring Pedal Double Sided

Delta Bicycle Strapless Toe Clips

Voltaic Fuse Solar Charger (front)

Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Charger (rear)

Continental Travel Contact Tires

Bushwhacker Tahoe Bike Crossbar Bag

Kikkerland FL18 Flasher Bike Lights, 2-Set

08-25-12, 12:57 PM

Cycle Alaska

What a beautiful organized bicycle touring set-up... one for the magazine covers!

08-25-12, 08:31 PM

azesty

@domdino, you might find that without the shoulder straps to tie the top ends of your Ortliebs down the sides they leak a bit in heavy rain. The straps are not just for carrying the bags.

z

08-25-12, 08:52 PM

lucille

Quote:

Originally Posted by azesty

@domdino, you might find that without the shoulder straps to tie the top ends of your Ortliebs down the sides they leak a bit in heavy rain. The straps are not just for carrying the bags.

z

Could you explain a little more, please? How do you tie the top ends? I don't use my straps either, just leave them at home. I've never had a problem in the rain, but maybe there's room for improvement.

08-26-12, 08:49 AM

nun

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdilthey

I'm now ready to go on my tour, thanks mostly to help from this forum and several ultralight guides, including iik's and staehpj1's. This is my first, and I'm with two other guys. We're shooting for 3,000 miles around the Northeast including Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey. This picture was taken in Massachusetts, it's the last dry run. The bags are now full of food and supplies, I'm going over checklists like a madman. Here's my gear list for those interested (Google Doc)

Could you explain a little more, please? How do you tie the top ends? I don't use my straps either, just leave them at home. I've never had a problem in the rain, but maybe there's room for improvement.

lucille, all he means is that when you have the long straps attached to the clips, and after rolling the top shut and you bring the strap down to the hook on the side of the bag, it pulls the bag "ends" down tight to the body of the bag. I personally never used the straps like this in daily use in all the years using Ortliebs, but I can see that in a really bad rain, combined with perhaps not rolling the top down enough or tightly enough, using the straps in their intended way could be a little better for keeping rain out.
Again, in all the years commuting with these bags, I never bothered as it is a bit slower to do up and to loosen to get stuff out and put in, so I either just bent the tops up and clicked them to each other after rolling, or even just rolled and attached the top middle strap thing (especially if not raining)

hope that it clear (ish)

08-27-12, 06:01 PM

domdino

Quote:

Originally Posted by azesty

@domdino, you might find that without the shoulder straps to tie the top ends of your Ortliebs down the sides they leak a bit in heavy rain. The straps are not just for carrying the bags.

z

Thanks for the tip Z, i'll definitely keep that in mind when it starts raining... they'll probably be packed a little bit higher/tighter when we actually leave with food etc. i guess i'll play it by ear :) i'm in the habit of packing everything inside in large ziplock bags anyway if any water does trickle in! Can't wait!!!!

08-28-12, 08:20 AM

Rambo

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucille

Could you explain a little more, please? How do you tie the top ends? I don't use my straps either, just leave them at home. I've never had a problem in the rain, but maybe there's room for improvement.

lucille, all he means is that when you have the long straps attached to the clips, and after rolling the top shut and you bring the strap down to the hook on the side of the bag, it pulls the bag "ends" down tight to the body of the bag. I personally never used the straps like this in daily use in all the years using Ortliebs, but I can see that in a really bad rain, combined with perhaps not rolling the top down enough or tightly enough, using the straps in their intended way could be a little better for keeping rain out.
Again, in all the years commuting with these bags, I never bothered as it is a bit slower to do up and to loosen to get stuff out and put in, so I either just bent the tops up and clicked them to each other after rolling, or even just rolled and attached the top middle strap thing (especially if not raining)

hope that it clear (ish)

Thanks, djb! I usually clip the two ends together, but will try out the other way.

Attachment 270500
Here's my Giant X-1500 on my last trip around Saaremaa and Muhu islands (Estonia). Ortlieb bike packer classics on the rear rack and 2 sleepingpads on the front rack. Since i wasn' t travelling alone (we were 2), i didn' t need the front panniers and didnt need to carry a tent on my bike, but on short solo trips it would be on the front rack where the second sleeping pad sits in the picture.

Waterford 1900, all Arkeled out on shakedown ride before self supported Skyline/Blue Ridge tour end of Sept '12

09-02-12, 03:08 PM

burbankbiker

Here's my Surly LHT out for it's maiden voyage ride. Ortlieb bikepacker bags in the back, frontroller plus in the front, and matching handlebar bag. Garmin GPSmap 62s, a honey B17 Champion Special, and a couple of bottle cages and that's it. Did about 150 miles on Saturday/Sunday and loved every one of 'em. Great bike and much thanks to great advice and discussion from these forums over the years.

Kona Smoke 26" ( a gift from my friend)
I didn't have a full couple of front pannier, so i just mount sleeping bags + rain coat at front rack :D

:)

09-03-12, 09:16 AM

rodar y rodar

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrvingBartowski

I didn't have a full couple of front pannier, so i just mount sleeping bags + rain coat at front rack

Good thinking!

09-03-12, 05:00 PM

alexaschwanden

Palo alto to Sausalito short Tour- 81 miles with Caltrain
-------------------------------
Today I started at 5am and left for my journey to sausalito, I packed a gallon of water, a lock, a big ziplock bag of powerbars and cliffbars(yummy). I rode my usual route up to the SFO airport in millbrae , that was the easy part. I GPS a route around the airport using my iphone but it took some time to plan it out. Once i got pass the 101 highway i had to navigate through some industrial areas, but after that i hit 3rd street, this is pretty high stress area to ride a bike and watch out for cars and climb a good degree of hill at the same time. Once down 3rd street I finally got to King street and it was smooth sailing to the Embarcadero with the piers, i saw a new flea market area that opened up , large amounts of people cluttering up the side walks waiting for food of some kind. With patience and skill riding i made it to the Golden Gate bridge where it was very foggy, so foggy i couldn't see more than 20 ft ahead. over the bridge and down the hill in to Sausalito i went and got to the end of the sausalito-Mill Valley trail in Mill valley. With a nice bathroom break and snacks/water, i rode back up the hill(pretty steep and curvy) and over the Golden Gate bridge and around a few hundred of zombie walking people i reached the Caltrain and got home.

Attachment 270500
Here's my Giant X-1500 on my last trip around Saaremaa and Muhu islands (Estonia). Ortlieb bike packer classics on the rear rack and 2 sleepingpads on the front rack. Since i wasn' t travelling alone (we were 2), i didn' t need the front panniers and didnt need to carry a tent on my bike, but on short solo trips it would be on the front rack where the second sleeping pad sits in the picture.